In My Words:A Writer and Time -- Who's in Charge?

First a little fun: I also blog with a multi-talented group of writers over at the WordServe Water Cooler. What brought us together? We are all represented by WordServe Literary. My agent is the fabulous Rachelle Gardner. Today's my first time blogging over at the Water Cooler. I hope you stop by and read my post: The Writer's Life: On the Edge of the Cliffs of Insanity. 

Clutter is a sign of genius, right? Right?

That, my friends, is an unretouched photo of my desk. If I'd "touched" it for the photo,you would be looking at some clean-to-the-extreme desk.


But then there would be no visual for this blog post.


I could give you lots of reasons why my desk is such a mess. I could confess there are times my desk is messier. I could claim genius status, hence this is merely a sign of that reality. I could reveal one of my nicknames: Bird of Paradise. My dad dubbed me that because he said he always knew where I was because of my droppings.


Ha. Ha. Ha. 


There is one reason, and one reason alone, for such a messy desk: I don't have the time to organize it. I don't make the time.


Right now time is controlling me instead of me controlling my time.


When someone asks me, "So, how are you?" my standard reply is "Busy."
And it's true. I am busy. Some days it feels like my schedule has my by the throat and his hauling me through life, with the scenery whizzing by.


But here's the question: I am a professional writer.

Another question: Does that desk say professional to you?


Wait. I'm sorry I asked that. Maybe I'm being too harsh ...


Look, I don't think that I or any other writer has to live up to some Martha Stewart standard of organization. (Kudos to anyone who does. And you have a standing invitation to come over to my house and clean off my desk.)


For the last six months or so, I've realized that my schedule needed an attitude adjustment. I needed to confront it. Say no more and yes a whole lot less.

• I walked away from a non-fiction critique group that I loved. I'd been a member from it's conception--almost 10 years.
• I embraced (albeit with tears) when God directed me away from longstanding writing avenue in my life. 
• I recognized tonight it's time for another no. The commitment is beneficial to me. But when I look at my priorities--writing my work-in-progress and my editing commitments--it's time to say goodbye to this too. 

Clarification: By "this" I mean another writing commitment--not this blog. Sigh. Poorly constructed sentence. My friend, Sonia, questioned me about it.

And, who knows, maybe I'll find some extra minutes to put the dictionary back on the bookshelf. Load the software on my computer. Throw that Brighton catalog away. Pay for my Good Housekeeping subscription. Make my picks for the fantasy football draft weekend. (Yes, really.) 

In Your Words: So who's in charge of your schedule--you or the unrelenting busyness? How do you decide what you say yes to and what you say no to?

In Others' Words: Everything ... Or Maybe Not

"You can do anything, but not everything." 
~ David Allen, productivity consultant

This past weekend? It was not about getting everything done. 
It's 2:10 A.M. on Monday--I don't know how many of you were still asleep while I typed this blog post. If I peeked outside my office, I could see the "everything" that didn't get done. 
My kitchen is waiting for someone to clean it. Hhhmmm. Wonder who that will be?
My family room? Well, some of us sat around earlier and watched a musical . . . 
And the photo I posted with my blog? That's the "anything" that I did accomplish this weekend: I (almost) completed the second round of edits on my novel. Ya gotta love Post-it notes. And a long coffee table to spread pages out on. And kids old enough to cook dinner while you edit. (Many thanks to my son-in-love because making dinner was another bit of "everything" I didn't get done.)
Even though my house is, um, let's say unsettled, I'm okay with that. Why? I knew going into this weekend that all the things I wanted to accomplish weren't going to be checked off my To Do list. And as other things (think people) became priority, I had to tell myself things like,"Face it. The house is going to be a mess this weekend."
I chose two priorities: finishing my edits and being with my family. Everything else became a distant third. 
I knew I could do anything.
I also knew I couldn't do everything.
So I chose something. 




In Your Words: Do you aim for anything or everything? David Allen, the guy who said that breathe-a-little-easier quote, is a time management guru. Do you have any tried and true tips to handle a too-full schedule?  

In My Words: Is There Ever Enough Time to Write?

So, all you writers out there, here's the question: Are you finding enough time to write?
Me neither.
I've been chatting with a new writer. She has a full time job and a family. With all of her commitments, she has one day a week to write. One day. Recently she asked me this question: Is it possible to be published with such a limited amount of time dedicated to that venture?
My answer?
Sure. Not anytime soon--but maybe sometime in the not-too-near future.
Every writer fights the clock. Every writer confronts the reality that there are never enough hours in the day to devote to writing. You have a family who wants to see you. Or friends. You have to eat (or at least make a couple of pots of coffee.) Pay bills. Exercise. (Really, exercise is not optional.) Sleep. Maybe feed your dog or cat or bird or bearded dragon. Maybe you have a "real" job and your boss expects you to work, not do research on your historical novel set in the 1700s.
It's the whole "real life" versus writing life conundrum.
Here are a few ways I manage the clock:

1. Set the alarm clock earlier than normal. Try an hour earlier. Too early? Try 30 minutes. The extra time is writing time--nothing else.No surfing the Net, no reading email, no updating your Facebook status, no writing tweets. 
2. Set a stopwatch when you're writing. My writing buddy, Lisa Jordan, told me about this great online stopwatch. When I want to stay focused, I set the stopwatch and write until it rings. Nothing else--just write.
3. Shut the door on the "real world."  I'm fortunate to have a home office where I write and edit. Sometimes I leave the door open. This means "Y'all come on in and interrupt me." I can't complain when my 10-year-old daughter comes in to talk. When I shut the door, this means "Do Not Disturb." My family knows someone better need medical care if they open the door.
4. Clear your calendar. Becoming a published writer requires commitment. That means saying yes to writing and no to a lot of other things. Take an honest look at your calendar. Are there things you need to step away from? If you're having lunch with friends two or three times a week, you are losing valuable writing time. I'm not saying don't have friends--but maybe do the "let's do lunch" thing once a week. Or once every other week.
5. Make the world--and everything else--go away. Turn off your phone.Shut down TweetDeck. And Facebook. And your email. Distractions will derail your writing. The limited time you'd set aside to finish that chapter will be gone--and all you've have to show for it is a tweet, an updated Facebook status and a fun conversation with your BFF.

In Your Words: How's the time management working out for you? Do you have any tried and true methods for getting enough time to write?

photo by tuareg/stockxchng.com

In My Words: Time Flies When You're Trying to Write

Where did Wednesday go?
And while I'm asking the question, can someone tell me how the rest of the week disappeared?
I won't say I have nothing to show for this week. It's just that what I have accomplished wasn't on my Writing To Do list.
Did I achieve significant forward motion in my work-in-progress? Um, no. Did I achieve any progress? Not enough to feel good about it.
I've dealt with the usual interruptions: phone calls and laundry and visiting with my kiddos and editing other writers' stuff for my "real" job and commenting on others' blogs and tweeting (social marketing, don'tcha know?) and battling vertigo. For the record, I don't want vertigo to become part of the usual interruptions.
I'm not much of a clock watcher, so I'm always surprised to realize it's 9 o'clock in the evening--time to start wrapping up today and to think about tomorrow. If I was a clock watcher, I'm not so sure the clock in my office would help me keep a handle on the hours in my day.

What do you think?
Does that Writer's Clock aptly depict days in your writing life? Is your day a cycle of Write, Write, Toss, Retrieve, Start Over, Writer's Block, Adult Beverage (just give me a large cherry Coke from Sonic), Write, Submit, Revise, Revise, Publish?
Some days it seems like I'm stuck on Write, Write, Toss. I don't even bother to Retrieve what I've thrown away. I've celebrated the clock hands hitting the Publish mark, but I know enough to realize I'll soon be in the writing cycle again.

In Your Words: How do you handle the hours in your day so that you're satisfied with what you've accomplished when you crawl into bed at night? Any tricks for controlling time so that writing--and revising--doesn't get shoved down to the last thing on your To Do list?

Warning: Editing + Fatigue = a Cranky Editor

My friend Doug, aka "Wise Guy," likes to say, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

This quote is attributed to both the great football coach Vince Lombardi and General George S. Patton Jr, of WWII fame.

Here's my version: Fatigue makes editors cranky.

Earlier this week, I was beyond tired. I also had mounds of editing to do. As the night slipped into the early morning, I found myself ... um ... acting out.

I talked to the computer screen. I asked questions like: "Did the writer forget the word count?" "How can I say this in one word instead of ten?" ""How many articles am I missing?"

My computer never answered me. So please, no one suggest medication.

I stopped typing, pounding my keyboard into submission. I'm surprised I didn't dislocate some of the keys.

I updated my Facebook status with snarky comments about the proper number of spaces between sentences. (One.) Several editors replied. Seems I'm not the only one who is up late editing.

At one point, I put my hands over my face and muttered, "I love my job. I love my job. I love my job."

And I do.

I was just overtired. The hours in my day ran out before my commitments ended.

That night I appreciated the solitary aspect of editing. No one else heard my ranting--except my husband, who brought me tea and hugs. I think of myself as an editor who respects writers. But if you'd sat in my office Tuesday night, you'd have thought otherwise.

All the ranting and raving? That was just the fatigue talking.

Fatigue. It happens. But it doesn't give me an excuse to slander writers. I don't know how tired that writer was when she hit "Send" and submitted an article that was 200 words over the requested word count. (Yeah, word count is an editorial pet peeve of mine. I'll admit it.)

I'm also responsible to balance my commitments as both a writer and an editor--and a wife and a mom--so that fatigue doesn't ambush me. That's called being a professional.

What about you? Does fatigue make you cranky? How do you manage your real life and your writing life so that you're not blindsided by exhaustion?

Photo by gozdeo/stockxchng.com